Is it possible to take a morning train from Florence and comfortably catch a afternoon departure on a Cruise Ship leaving from Venice.

Depends on the time of the afternoon departure.

You could take an early ES train from Florence SMN station,change at Bologna, arrive Venice SL Station before 11 AM.

For Italian train schedule, please check:www.trenitalia.it.

Yes, this would be very doable, the trip takes about 3.5 hours. Many trains do not require a change. There is a train leaving Florence at about 8:30 am which gets into Venice Mestre at 10:45 and does not require a change. There is also a 6:45 am train that gets in Venice Mestre at 10 am and does not require a change.

There are two stations in Venice, check with your cruise line whether it is better to get off at Venice Mestre (the first stop on the mainland) or Venice San Lorenzo (the last stop on the lagoon in Venice). My guess is that the cruise ships depart from a port closer to Venice Mestre. Check to see if the cruise line will offer to arrange for your transfer from the train station to the port. Otherwise, you could probably take a taxi or bus.

I use the website for Swiss Rail, rail.ch, as I find it much easier to use than Trenitalia. You may not be able to get prices on that website, but can get train schedules.

> Venice San Lorenzo (the last stop on the lagoon in Venice)

Santa Lucia, I suppose.

Sorry, you are right, the train station on the lagoon in Venice is Santa Lucia.

Most cruise ships depart from Venice itself, so you would have to go to Venice Santa Lucia.

> Swiss Rail, rail.ch, as I find it much easier to use.

I agree.

> Most cruise ships depart from Venice itself

I agree.

Hi Smark,

There are two direct ES* trains to Venice SL station you could take:
8:39 Arriving 11:28
10:39 Arriving 13:28

Your cruise line should tell you how to get to the ship from the train station.

Thank You, for the great infomation on the train schedules.

Mark